Solomon continues with his thirty sayings of the wise, which all relate to the heart; they begin in Proverbs 22:17 and continue to Proverbs 24:24.
Wisdom teachers wanted their students to know that manners are logically linked to character, discipline, self-respect and upbringing. It appears that manners are not considered so important in our society today. How sad!
We could say, do not ‘make a pig of yourself’, because it will make a bad impression. We may be under examination, or there may be an ulterior motive. These verses appear to be telling us to be careful when we eat with important people because they want something from us.
DeHoff, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Proper etiquette in eating is encouraged. One’s table manners are important. When invited to the table of one’s betters, he should eat moderately and not as half-starved. It is better not to eat and drink those things to which one is not accustomed.’
There have always been and will continue to be those who are obsessed with wealth. There is a saying which says, ‘easy come, easy go,’ which would apply here.
Many people have won millions on the lottery or as part of an inheritance, but sadly, many of those people have blown it all away, and their life has come to ruin, Hebrews 13:5.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Paul warned against the desire to be rich, and here we have a warning in the Old Testament. The heart of Paul’s warning, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, centred upon moral and spiritual damage to the seeker, and here the warning stresses the nature of riches. They have the startling ability to leave their possessor ‘holding the bag.’ Ask any man who has experienced great loss (1) by the death of a trusted partner, a stock market crash, an earthquake, a flood, a tornado, a hurricane, a drought, a revolution, a robbery, embezzlement, fraud, some changing fashion, or any one of a thousand other ways that riches can make themselves wings and fly away. ‘There is an ancient proverb: ‘Possessions are like sparrows, or locusts, in flight that can find no place to alight.’
Here, this hospitality is described as grudgingly given. We would be better off not being there. Eating and drinking imply that the host is counting the cost with each of the bites he takes. They don’t really want to give us anything, because their hearts aren’t right towards us.
It is as if we would say, ‘this is very good’, but then we vomit up the food. There are two possible meanings to this phrase.
1. It is sickening to be in the company of such people, or
2. Everything will be lost when you vomit up their expensive food.
Some things are a complete waste of time, and speaking to fools is one of them. They scorn our words simply because they don’t want to understand, Matthew 7:6.
Boundaries were put in place for a reason: to stop people from going into the fields to steal crops. This was the sin of coveting more land and more crops, Deuteronomy 19:14 / Deuteronomy 27:17. God is the One who does the defending.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The fatherless and widows were in the greatest danger of suffering damage by the fraudulent removal of a landmark; and the passage states that God, as their Champion, will defend them.’
We must learn not only to listen to what God says in His Word, but we must remember to apply what we learn from His Word to our lives, James 1:22.
A wayward child is sometimes ‘straightened out’ by being ‘bent over’ even though all of their yelling and screaming may sound as if they are dying, Deuteronomy 31:18-21 / 1 Corinthians 5:5 / 3 John 4.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘A proper correction of children was a favourite point of discipline with Solomon. We have already seen how forcibly he speaks on this subject.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The following rendition obscures the true meaning: ‘Do not hesitate to discipline a youth; Though you beat him with a stick, he will not die; Indeed, you should beat him with a stick, and so save his life from Sheol.’
The implication is that the son will not only survive but that he will survive because of the discipline. These verses show that people were afraid to discipline for fear of hurting the child. Caution and control have to be exercised with the discipline, Proverbs 23:14, because it will show that the teacher succeeded in their job.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘We have here a tender and beautiful expression of a father’s devout and earnest ambition for his son, and a statement of what joy and happiness a truly upright son will bring to his father.’
It’s easy to envy sinners because they appear to have so much, but we must remember that we’re not living our lives to please others or ourselves; we’re to live a life which pleases God, Ecclesiastes 12:9.
Henry, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Here is, 1. A necessary caution against entertaining any favourable thoughts of prospering profaneness: “Let not thy heart envy sinners; do not grudge them either the liberty they take to sin or the success they are to be pitied rather than envied. Their prosperity is their portion, Psalm 12:14, nay, it is their poison,’ Proverbs 1:32. We must not harbour in our hearts any secret discontent at the providence of God, though it seems to smile upon them, nor wish ourselves in their condition. ‘Let not thy heart imitate sinners’ (so some read it); do not as they do; walk not in the way with them; use not the methods they take to enrich themselves, though they thrive by them.
2. An excellent direction to maintain high thoughts of God in our minds at all times: Be thou in the fear of the Lord every day and all the day long. We must be in the fear of the Lord as in our employment, exercising ourselves in holy adorings of God, in subjection to his precepts, submission to his providences, and a constant care to please him; we must be in it as in our element, taking a pleasure in contemplating God’s glory and complying with his will. We must be devoted to his fear, Psalm 119:38; and governed by it as our commanding principle in all we say and do. All the days of our life, we must constantly keep up an awe of God upon our spirits, must pay a deference to his authority, and have a dread of his wrath. We must always be so in his fear as never to be out of it.
3. A good reason for both of these: Surely there is an end, an end and expectation, as Jeremiah 29:11. There will be an end of the prosperity of the wicked, therefore do not envy them, Psalm 73:17; there will be an end of thy afflictions, therefore be not weary of them, an end of thy services, thy work and warfare will be accomplished, perfect love will shortly cast out fear, and thy expectation of the reward not only will be not cut off, or disappointed, but it will be infinitely outdone. The consideration of the end will help to reconcile us to all the difficulties and discouragements of the way.’
The writer says there is only one way, and that is the right way. Notice that there are crowds involved with eating, Philippians 3:19, and drinking, Ephesians 5:18. Why is this the wrong crowd? The answer is obvious: we become like them, 1 Corinthians 15:33.
Children should always try to please their parents, Exodus 20:12 / Ephesians 6:2. Truth, wisdom, instruction and insight are all priceless, and all should be taught by parents to their children. These are all invaluable treasures to help us through life.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The words ‘buy the truth’ do not mean that it can be purchased with money. That teaching which one gladly receives, believes and accepts as completely trustworthy is thus `bought’ in the sense of this passage.’
The teacher, that is, the parent, again calls for their son’s undivided attention. The parents are also offering themselves as examples, 1 Corinthians 11:1 / Ephesians 5:1.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This is the speech of God to every human soul; give thy affections to God, so as to love him with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. And let thine eyes observe my ways – Be obedient to me in all things. My son, thou believest that I Am, and that I Am the Fountain of all good. Give me thy heart; it is I alone who can make thee happy. Observe my ways – follow me; do what is right in my sight. This exhortation contains three words: Believe, Love, Obey! This is the sum of God’s counsels to every child of man.’
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In Proverbs 23:27, the two lines introduce the two classes of unchaste women, the harlot and the adulteress; but the same destructive character is ascribed to both.’ Although Toy and others dispute it, we feel that Deane is correct in making Wisdom personified the speaker in Proverbs. 23:26. In Proverbs 23:28, the unchaste woman is said to increase the treacherous among men. A better rendition is, ‘She increases the faithless among men.’ How is this so? ‘The harlot causes her victim to be faithless to God, to his parents, to his wife, to his family, and to himself.’
A deep pit is a place where you might become stuck firmly in its mud, Proverbs 22:14. This is the consequence of neglecting God’s ways.
Notice that they mixed wine with water and honey; this possibly implies that they didn’t intend to become drunk.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There were two ways of ‘mixing’ wine. One way was diluting it with
water; another way was to mix spices with it to increase its potency; and that is the type of ‘mixing’ mentioned here.’
The wine was red, which implies it’s attractive to the eye; it’s also smooth, which implies it’s attractive to the taste. The truth about those who are drunk is that they often say things they wouldn’t normally say.
Notice that the drunk person ‘feels no pain’. They don’t even care about their life, hence they sleep on the top of the rigging of a ship. Even in those days, alcohol easily became an addiction, hence why it’s the first thing on their mind when they wake up, Ephesians 5:18.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Sin makes a man contemptible in life, miserable in death, and wretched to all eternity. Is it not strange, then, that men should love it?’